A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study on healthy sailors showed that a supplement of L. reuteri Prodentis significantly reduced bleeding of the gums compared with a placebo.

“A supplement of L. reuteri lozenges is an efficacious and easily implementable measure to maintain or improve periodontal health in medically healthy persons with limited access to personal oral hygiene,” says the study’s Principal Investigator Professor Ulrich Schlagenhauf, Department of Periodontology, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.

Study design
72 healthy sailors were randomised to either two lozenges daily (4×10⁸ CFU/day) of L. reuteri Prodentis (L. reuteri ATCC PTA 5289 and L. reuteri DSM 17938) or a corresponding placebo for 42 days. The study was carried out while the sailors were participating in a six-week military exercise at sea. The sailors did not receive professional oral cleaning or any oral hygiene instruction.

The primary outcome of the study was bleeding on probing, but plaque, probing pocket depth and other parameters were also measured.

Less bleeding with L. reuteri Prodentis
The group which received probiotics showed a significant improvement in all parameters compared with the start of the study and with the placebo group on both day 14 and day 42. In the placebo group all parameters were significantly worse at the end of the study.

The study was published online on 26 February 2020 in Journal of Periodontology.